Monticello rec director wants job back

MONTICELLO — The village's suspended recreation director said Monday he plans to submit a letter to the trustees at Tuesday night's board meeting, defending himself and asking to return to the job.

Victor Whitman

MONTICELLO — The village's suspended recreation director said Monday he plans to submit a letter to the trustees at Tuesday night's board meeting, defending himself and asking to return to the job.

Michael Greco, the sole recreation employee, says operating village programs is a dream job he wants to keep but that he's "not appreciated" and has been bullied repeatedly since Mayor Gordon Jenkins took over as acting village manager.

Jenkins suspended Greco last week from the $30,900 annual job on grounds of "insubordination."

Jenkins said last week Greco told him "just to fire him" after a heated meeting in his office last Wednesday.

Jenkins said Greco allowed a family to use the Ted Stroebele Recreation Center during Tuesday's Lincoln's birthday holiday after a funeral. The village allows residents to rent the building for a fee of $35 but also requires the renter to fill out an application to be submitted to the mayor and village manager. The applicant also must obtain $1 million in liability insurance, a policy that apparently hasn't been followed rigorously.

Greco said former village managers John Barbarite and John LiGreci had allowed him to expand the use of the facility to let people have private events. He said Jenkins asked him to stop booking private events through December and January.

"We were supposed to have a meeting on this — nothing happened," Greco said.

"I got a call from (Trustee T.C. Hutchins) asking if it was alright," Greco said. "When somebody dies, some things fall through the cracks."

Greco acknowledged the family didn't fill out the paperwork and Jenkins wasn't notified of the event. The family's fee was paid after the fact by Hutchins' campaign fund.

Ironically, the family is related to Jenkins, who said he learned about the post-funeral event just before it was to take place. He said when he discovered who might be going, he feared a fight might break out at the recreation center. He was planning to send two police officers.

Greco said Jenkins stormed into the center while people were cooking food and setting up.